Dreams Come at a Price
by Son Akito
Summary: Naruto had rose against all the challenges of his life and became the Nanadaime Hokage. Yet, was his dream worth the price he had to pay?


**Son Akito here! So, I am really into Naruto now, and Naruto being my favorite character I am trying out some FanFiction in the Naruto universe! I am really enjoying the series of Naruto. Although I am not a huge fan of Boruto, I am a fan of the Boruto Movie! Plus, I like seeing Adult!Naruto. I am writing a story right now called "A Single Act of Kindness" if ya want to check that out!**

 **So I hope you enjoy my short! This takes place during the Boruto Movie!**

 **I do not own Naruto/Boruto, but I do have a Naruto tattoo... if that means anything!**

 **Please read and review!**

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 _Dreams Come at a Price_

Back in his youth, he had this idealistic dream of what it meant to be Hokage. He had always envisioned going on top-secret missions that no one else, not even the ANBU could take. He'd be in charge of telling people what kind of missions to take, and always make sure to give the really cool missions to his friends. He even thought about going to the Academy, and spend his free time teaching the next generation about the Will of Fire, and hope that he could inspire the next Hokage like the Sandaime and Yondaime Hokage had inspired him.

When he was a child, Naruto would hope that he could walk amongst the people in the village and finally be acknowledged as a real person, in the core of his dream, beyond the title, that is what it was truly about.

Now, Naruto was an adult. He had been trained since the Fourth Shinobi World War to take the title of Hokage. There had been so many people that helped guide him here, that believed that he was the one to shape the Shinobi World.

Naruto never went back on his word; that after all was his Nindō, the base of who he was as a person.

So he rose above it all and he had finally become the Nanadaime Hokage.

Yet, something in the back of Naruto's mind fought back the urge to actually be happy about his dream becoming true.

His eyes darted to the single picture frame that sat on his desk. Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, Sasuke… They were the three along with Iruka-sensei who first believed in him, who saw his value as a person. With them along side him, his vision to become the Hokage became stronger. He had found the people he would stand in front of to protect, and that number just grew, it reached out to the whole entire village.

The village was his family now, the people he swore to protect.

However, Naruto had to admit—that the three people he wanted to desperately see were not in the picture frame that sat at his desk.

If they had been there, he would never get any work done.

He knew his wife was strong, that she was able to be the main caretaker of the home while he had to watch over the entire village. During his late nights—when he was finally able to come home after days of eating and sleeping inside the office—she always greeted him with a soft smile and a hug to welcome him home.

He'd buried his face in his wife's neck and whisper his sorries to her. Sorry for waking her up. Sorry he was never home to be with her and the kids. Sorry that work took too much of their time together. Sorry but he had to get up and leave early in the morning.

She would tell him not to be sorry, that she and the kids understood. She was able the soothe him despite the lies she told him.

Hinata might understand, but he knew the kids didn't.

Himawari still looked at him in amazement, absorbing every moment that they had together. She had an understanding beyond her years when it came to him coming home too late to see her awake, or denying her when she wanted to play. He hated to admit it, but he had to take advantage of her kind nature for now. He didn't deserve to have her look at him the way she did, Naruto knew this, but for the time being he'd absorb it as much as he could.

He knew that one day she would not look up to him like that.

The few moments he had with his daughter lately impacted him like the way the sun did after a long rainy day. He couldn't get enough of her warmth when her little arms would wrap around his neck as he lifted her up. She always wanted to play Shinobi, or draw pictures of the both of them, or just talk about her day or the family. Hinata was her role model, Boruto was her hero, and she would tell him over and over again how much she missed her Dad and how she just wanted him home.

She'd pout on the days he said he couldn't be with her, and he hated disappointing his little girl.

Naruto had to admit, he treated Himawari a little differently than his son. In a lot of ways, he could relate to his daughter a little bit more. She was strong in the same ways her parents were. She had the gentleness of her mother and the tenacity of her father. She had Hinata's smile and she had his eyes.

Himawari was the easier child. She said what was on her mind, and she wasn't afraid to tell you if she was happy, or sad, or angry, or lonely (she had been lonely lately she had told him and the thought of his little girl lonely crushed his heart into a million pieces, because he couldn't do anything about it right now). Himawari never doubted herself or her feelings, and Naruto knew this because he was the same way. Even as a child, he always was expressive with what was on his mind, Naruto never saw the point of holding anything back.

He was just grateful that Himawari had people who would _listen_ to her.

His son however, Naruto couldn't relate to him as easily as he could his daughter.

Boruto intimidated him, if he had to admit.

There was no question that Naruto was proud of his son, of course he was. Boruto was smart, _really smart_ , not Shikamaru smart, but like Sasuke smart. Everything seemed to come to him easily. He'd hear from when he was at the Academy about how advanced he was compared to the other students. Shino had told him that everyone rallies around Boruto, how well liked he was and how easy it was for him to get along with everyone in his class. Boruto, he'd heard, never left behind any of his friends and did whatever he could to help them succeed.

He seemed to work well with his team now that he was a Genin. Konohamaru told him that they would bicker from time to time, but his team was strong. They were quickly becoming fine Shinobi.

So of course he was proud of his son, and when others complimented his child he'd hold his head up and thank them for the kind words. He had to be respectful as the Hokage, but every time he heard these kinds of things about his son he couldn't help but to do back flips inside his mind. Boruto was so exceptional.

He saw the way Boruto would look at his mother and sister, and his heart would burst with pride. His son would do anything for them. It eased his mind at time, knowing that he had a strong young man at home that could protect the family in his absence.

Naruto did see a lot of his features in his son, he's son speaks in the same way he does, he cared about his friends in the same way he does, he was stubborn just like him.

Yet, when his son would look up at him, especially lately, he'd felt like someone punched him right in the gut.

Those eyes… His son would bring him back to his childhood with those eyes of his. The undeniable look of _hate_.

It would be unfair of him to say his son looked at him in the same way the villagers did in his youth, because that wasn't it either. He knew (or at least hoped) that Boruto loved him as well. Yet, there was _hate_ in those eyes, and Naruto could always tell what people felt, especially how people felt about him.

So, it imitated the hell out of him, and sometimes he felt like he was back to being five years old being picked on by some older kids for being "that kid" everyone hated in the village.

Naruto could see past his son's hate, his child hid his feelings well at times, but the Hokage knew things beyond what his mere boy knew even about himself. Behind the hate in his eyes, there was something else.

Something that Naruto knew very well, but at the exact same time, he was unable to understand it.

His rash, intelligent, kind son looked up at him with eyes that went past his hate and into the undying desire to be seen. Boruto just wanted to be accepted, _accepted by him._

Naruto couldn't understand this.

In the past he wanted to be accepted because no one paid attention to him, and he fought tooth and nail for people to remember him. He was Naruto Uzumaki! He'd have to say it over and over again when he was a boy because if he didn't, he would have forgotten he even had a name.

Everyone knew Boruto, and not just because he was the Hokage's son, but Boruto earned the attention he received in his own right. Everyone had already accepted Boruto.

He accepted his son; he loved his son with all his heart. Sometimes the love he carried for his family was so overwhelming that he felt as if he couldn't even contain it. The love he had for Hinata, Boruto, and Himawari was in every beat of his heart, flowing through every vein in his body, and was in every ounce of his charka.

So when his son's eyes were pleading at him to accept him, Naruto didn't know what else he could do to convince his son that he already _has_.

He didn't have a father growing up, and that realization was even more painful as a man. He wasn't a man who knew how to comfort his children. No one ever comforted him as a child, and that was a pitiful excuse he knew, but it still left him with an air of uncertainly when his children looked at him like he was suppose to already _know_ how to be their father.

That is why it was easy with Himawari, she told him her feelings and they were actually able to talk about how she felt. And even though talking is never enough, at least he understood his daughter.

Boruto never talked to him. Every time he would try to come up with a conversation they were filled with annoyance that it made him nervous and unsure of himself as his father. He'd always want a father to talk too, and Naruto wanted to be that father to Boruto, but there was just this undeniable wall between them that Naruto didn't know how to get over.

Hinata would try to comfort him with his concerns; telling him that Boruto understood how his father was busy in his own way, and sometimes he acted out because he wanted his father's attention.

Naruto wished he could spend time with his son, he really did, but the Hokage was a huge responsibility. He always thought peace would relax the village, but in a lot of ways the peace that this era had was twice as hard to maintain. It was one of the reasons why Sasuke was always away now; he helped keep the village safe within the shadows.

His Other Hokage… The guilt that was in Naruto's heart reached past his family and even stung his old Team Seven… Sasuke hadn't seen his child grow up. Naruto didn't have the courage to apologize to Sakura and Sarada for the absence of Sasuke. But he felt the guilt of keeping his friend separated from his family every single day.

Even though the village had reached peace, even though he had made his dream come true, Naruto still felt like he was doing everything wrong.

He didn't know how the other Hokage before him were able to handle it alone.

Naruto had to send one of his Shadow Clones home for his daughter's birthday. He had never done that before, and he knew if he was discovered his family would be so angry with him… Yet, it killed him that he had to miss Himawari's birthday. He had been thinking about it all day.

Boruto had thought he'd forgotten… And that realization that his son thought that low of him… it felt Earth shattering.

He was known to make thousands of Shadow Clones, fight the strongest Shinobi in the world, was able to help end the Fourth Shinobi World War, but running the village wore him out. He felt himself collapse, the memory of his Shadow Clone returning to him instantly.

His family had been so happy to see him home to celebrate… Now, he couldn't imagine how they felt.

Sometimes when he just felt so unsure about everything, his eyes would glance up at the picture of the Yondaime Hokage. He had only been able to meet his father for brief interactions and in the mist of battles. There was no time for father and son bonding moments.

" _Dad, what am I suppose to do?"_

He knew his father couldn't answer him.

Back in his youth, he never imaged that obtaining his dream came at the price that it did. He never envisioned the long hours of paper work that he would have to read and sign every single day. That being in charge constantly meant being questioned by the people around (If he didn't have Shikamaru by his side there would be no way he could handle all this). He had television interviews, grand openings, and meeting to go too, he had no time to teach the new generation all that he knew. He couldn't imagine anyone being inspired by him.

When he was a child, Naruto had hoped that one day he would be able to have a family that would welcome him home, in the core of him, that was more important than any title, that is what it was truly about.

Dreams come at a price, the Nanadaime Hokage sadly realized.

But, at the moment, there wasn't anything he could do.

He had to pay that price.


End file.
